I just finished reading Light of the Jedi.

It opened strong. I really liked the ‘natural disaster’ scenario, as it shows a different side of the Jedi rather than just the tired good guys vs bad guys story which has been done to death in Star Wars. The Jedi have new but not crazy abilities at times which is always refreshing, and the numerous small personal stories painted a compelling picture of this time period.

Unfortunately, the villains show up after the disaster and the story becomes much less compelling. What doesn’t help matters is that the villains don’t directly meet the heroes until the final few chapters of the book, so there’s basically no drama between them. It’s nowhere near bad enough to ruin the book, but following the wonderful first part is a letdown.

Overall, I’m cautiously optimistic about future stories in this period.